Protesters Block Google Bus at 24th and Valencia Sts.

Protesters blocked a Google bus from leaving a MUNI bus stop in the Mission Monday, accusing Google and other tech companies of illegally using the city’s bus stops.

Wearing neon yellow safety vests, 30 members of a group calling itself the San Francisco Displacement and Neighborhood Impact Agency chanted, “San Francisco, not for sale!”

For some, the private shuttle buses that take employees to work in Silicon Valley, have become a symbol for gentrification and the new tech boom. Last spring, a small group of people beat a Google bus piñata during a protest at 16th and Mission streets.

Deepa Varma, a 33-year-old tenant attorney and a spokesperson for the San Francisco Displacement and Neighborhood Impact Agency, said, “These private tech buses have become a symbol of the displacement in the city and this two-tiered system between the longtime residents and middle-and-working class people and the new tech elite…creating a situation that is just not affordable for the people who are here, whether it’s businesses or residents.”

Early on Monday morning, protesters gathered in an alley waiting for the 9:15 a.m. Google bus to arrive at a bus stop in front of Bethel Christian Church at 24th and Valencia streets. TO READ MORE CLICK HERE.